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More and more, first- year writing courses foreground skills of critical analysis and argumentation. In response, Arguing about Literature hones students’ analytical skills through instruction in close critical reading of texts, showing them how to turn their reading into well-supported and rhetorically effective argumentative writing. Two books in one, it combines a guide to reading literature and writing arguments with a compact thematic anthology of stories, poems, plays, essays, and arguments for analysis and research, from the authors of Making Literature Matter.

John Schilb (PhD, State University of New York—Binghamton) is a professor of English at Indiana University, Bloomington, where he holds the Culbertson Chair in Writing. He has coedited Contending with Words: Composition and Rhetoric in a Postmodern Age, and with John Clifford, Writing Theory and Critical Theory. He is author of Between the Lines: Relating Composition Theory and Literary Theory and Rhetorical Refusals: Defying Audiences’ Expectations. John Clifford (PhD, New York University) is a professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Editor of The Experience of Reading: Louis Rosenblatt and Reader-Response Theory, he has published numerous scholarly articles on pedagogy, critical theory, and composition theory, most recently in College English; Relations, Locations, Positions: Composition Theory for Writing Teachers; and in The Norton Book of Composition Studies.

Preface for Instructors Contents by Genre

PART ONE: A Brief Guide to Arguing about Literature

1. What is Argument?

Elements of Argument Paul Goldberger, Disconnected Urbanism Issues / Claims / Persuasion / Audience / Evidence / Reasoning / Assumptions / AppealsDeveloping an Effective Style of ArgumentSample Argument for Analysis David W. Barno, A New Moral CompactWriting a Response to an ArgumentStudent Response to an Argument Justin Korzack, How to Slow Down the Rush to WarTwo Closing Arguments for Analysis Carlos Fraenkel, In Praise of the Clash of Cultures Francine Prose, Why Are Poor Kids Paying for School Security?

Strategies for Close ReadingA Poem for Analysis Sharon Olds, “Summer Solstice, New York City” (poem)Applying the Strategies Make Predictions / Reflect on One’s Personal Background / Read for Patterns and for Breaks in Patterns / Read for Puzzles, Ambiguities, and Unclear Moments / Read for the Author’s Choices / Generate Questions that Have More than One Possible Answer / State Tentative AnswersReading Closely by Annotating X. J. Kennedy, Death of a Window Washer (poem) Using Topics of Literary Studies to Get Ideas Lynda Hull, Night Waitress (poem)

4. The Writing Process

William Wordsworth, The Solitary Reaper (poem)Strategies for ExploringStrategies for Planning Choose a Text / Identify Your Audience / Identify Your Issue, Claim, and Evidence / Identify Your Assumptions / Determine Your OrganizationStrategies for Composing Decide on a Title / Make Choices about Your Style / Draft an Introduction /Limit Plot Summary / Decide How to Refer to the Author’s Life and Intentions / Recognize and Avoid Logical FallaciesFirst Draft of a Student Paper Abby Hazelton, The Passage of Time in “The Solitary Reaper”Strategies for Revising A Checklist for RevisingRevised Draft of a Student Paper Abby Hazelton, The Passage of Time in “The Solitary Reaper”Strategies for Writing a Comparative Paper Don Paterson, Two Trees (poem) Luisa A. Igloria, Regarding History (poem) List Similarities and Differences Consider “Weighting” Your Comparison A Student Comparative Paper Jeremy Cooper,” Don Paterson’s Criticism of Nature’s Owners”

Identify an Issue and a Tentative Claim Search for Sources in the Library and OnlineEvaluate the Sources Strategies for Working with SourcesStrategies for Integrating Sources Strategies for Documenting Sources (MLA Format) MLA In-Text Citation MLA Works Cited Four Annotated Student Research PapersA Paper that Uses a Literary Work to Examine Social Issues Sarah Michaels, “The Yellow Wallpaper” as a Guide to Social Factors in Postpartum DepressionA Paper that Deals with Existing Interpretations of a Literary Work Katie Johnson, The Meaning of the Husband’s Fainting in “The Yellow Wall-Paper”A Paper that Analyzes a Literary Work through the Framework of a Particular Theorist Jacob Grobowicz, Using Foucault to Understand Disciplinary Power in Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”A Paper that Places Literature in Historical and Cultural Context Brittany Thomas, The Relative Absence of the Human Touch in “The Yellow Wall-Paper”

Arguments about an Issue: What Are the Bounds of Parental Protection? Gerard Jones, Violent Media Is Good for Kids Lee Siegel, The Perils of Parenting in the Digital Age Harlan Coben, The Undercover Parent

8. Love

Romantic Dreams: StoriesJames Joyce, Araby John Updike, A & P Joyce Carol Oates, Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

Is This Love?: Stories William Faulkner, A Rose for Emily Raymond Carver, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love

The Appearance of Love: Stories by Kate ChopinKate Chopin, The Storm Kate Chopin, The Story of an Hour Kate Chopin, Désirée's Baby

Arguments about an Issue: What Are the Bounds of Free Speech on Campus?Gerald Uelmen, The Price of Free SpeechCharles R. Lawrence III, The Debates Over Putting Limits on Racist Speech Must Not Ignore the Damage It Does to Its VictimsGreg Lukianoff, Feigning Free Speech on Campus

Women Resisting Injustice: A Play in the News Sophocles, Antigone In the News: Peter Beaumont and Saeed Kamali Deghan, Iran: Women on the frontline of the fight for rights Isabel Hilton, A Triumph for Moral Authority

Arguments about a Story: Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” Flannery O’Connor, A Good Man Is Hard to Find Critical Commentaries Flannery O’Connor, from Mystery and Manners Martha Stephens, from The Question of Flannery O’Connor Stephen Bandy, from “’One of My Babies’: The Misfit and the Grandmother John Desmond, from “Flannery O’Connor’s Misfit and the Mystery of Evil”

Arguments about an Issue: Should Brain Science Influence Sentencing?David Eagleman, The Brain on TrialRaymond Tallis, Why Blame Me? It Was All My Brain’s Fault

Errands of Mercy: Stories William Carlos Williams, The Use of Force Eudora Welty, A Worn Path

A Journey to War: A Story in the News Tim O’Brien, The Things They Carried In the News: Valerie Sieling Jacobs, Packing for the Ineffable

Roads Taken: Poems by Robert Frost Robert Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening Robert Frost, The Road Not TakenRobert Frost, Acquainted with the Night

Travels Through the Dark: Re-Visions of a Poem William Stafford, Traveling Through the Dark John Burnside, Penitence Robert Wrigley, Highway 12, Just East of Paradise, Idaho Loren Goodman, Traveling Through the Dark (2005)